


Damage Limitation

by bluntblade



Series: Tales from the Timeskip [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Developing Friendships, Female Friendship, Fluff, Porgs (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rey Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Rey is Nobody (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28977210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluntblade/pseuds/bluntblade
Summary: Rose attends to a minor calamity. Partly inspired byCritter of Habit's Padawan Rey artwork.
Relationships: Rey & Rose Tico
Series: Tales from the Timeskip [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719019
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: High Council Bounty 1/21





	Damage Limitation

Rey, in Rose’s considered opinion, was an excellent friend, with the perk of being a good neighbour. There was always a calm quiet in the cabin next to Rose and Finn’s on base, the result of an occupant who spent most of her day in training of one sort or another, and in study the rest. Except for those days when the others could drag her away to relax, watch a holofilm or something of that sort.

So yes, Rey was a very peaceful presence next door, up until one afternoon when, whilst sat on her bed and reading, Rose was suddenly jolter by an uncharacteristic “ _Aaargh!_ ”

The scream shook Rose out of her reverie. She jumped off her bed, all but throwing her book aside, burst out of her cabin and rapped on the door of Rey’s. There was a steady stream of curses coming through it. “Rey? Rey! What’s up in there?”

“Help!”

The door opened to… no Rey. Rose had to shake off her initial surprise at that. _Jedi, remember. Telekinesis. She doesn’t need to come to the door. Oh stars, maybe she can’t come to the door_. There was Gial the Porg here to greet her, flapping his wings agitatedly and squawking at her.

Rose tickled him behind the ears to quiet him. “Where are you, Rey?” she called.

The switch flicked behind her, and the door snapped closed. “Bathroom!”

Rose hurried over, stepped through the door into the little bathroom and found… a disaster zone. As disaster zones went, it wasn’t too egregious. Even as disaster zones involving a trimmer went, it could’ve been worse. But it was still, undeniably, a disaster zone.

“I… I-I…” Rey was stood in the middle of the bathroom in her underwear, trimmer in hand and a large amount of her hair, which had previously been attached to the back of her head, on the floor.

“Easy, Rey.” Rose went over to her, and squeezed her arm gently. “What happened, pal?”

Rey screwed up her face and groaned. “I was training, and I was moving too fast and my hair, it kept getting in my way and whipping me in the face and I was just _so_ done with it.”

“So you came back in,” Rose smiled, hoping to get Rey to see the funny side of it. “And you were fired up and pissed, because a Jedi’s hair shouldn’t mess her around, right?”

“And forgot that that stupid bloody Jedi knows stupid bloody naff-all about cutting kriffing hair!” Rey groaned, glanced at the mirror and groaned again. “What the hell do I do with this, Rose? Have I just gotta buzz it all off like Finn used to?”

Rose laughed. Gently. Hopefully that was how it sounded too. “I don’t think we need to do quite that drastic, Rey. You’ve just gotta shape and style it right.”

Rey gave her a helpless little look. “ _How?_ ”

“Ah.” She hadn’t counted on that. Internally, she stepped back and reassessed the situation. Remembered Rey’s upbringing – or lack thereof after a certain point – and the fact that she hadn’t been able to remember having a hairstyle besides the triple buns in all that time. Not to mention the fact that Rey seemed unable to go back to that style. “You’d never really cut it yourself, had you?” she asked gently.

“No one would teach me too,” Rey said, sadly. “I can remember how to do the buns, I always could. It’s maybe the one thing I remember of my… at least I think it was my mother.”

“But you don’t wanna go back to those, do you?” Rose asked gently. Of course Rey couldn’t bear to resume tying her hair in the way that reminded her of Jakku. Of the thousands of wasted days out in the desert, wedded to the same look all the time in the hope that her parents, when they came back, would know her by sight.

“Otherwise, no clue, at least not now I’ve done this.” She made a fist with her free hand and shook. “Bloody kriffing stupid! I could’ve tied it, or thought for a minute, but oh no I had to go and-”

“I’ll figure it out for you,” Rose cut her off. She hadn’t really thought about it, but she saw a problem what was troubling her friend, and she had a solution to it.

Rey gave her a befuddled look. “What?”

“I’ll pick you out a style you like, and then we’ll get you that.” She saw the doubt in Rey’s eyes, and gave her a reassuring smile. “Rey, I cut Paige’s hair for every occasion. Picture Day, party, date, _I wanna make Dad’s eyes pop out_ …” Rey managed a laugh at that, which helped Rose’s nerves too. “Just trust me, OK?” Her friend nodded shakily. “Great. Now, if you’ve got a data-slate somewhere, that’ll help us find some ideas.”

That took them a while, flicking through a decent-sized catalogue of styles which Rose had frequently used. It wasn’t going to be mistaken for in-season on Coruscant any time soon, but they weren’t after the most eye-catching cut. Besides, what Rey didn’t know about fashion couldn’t hurt her.

“I _would_ be keen for this,” she said, looking at one image. “But then there’s that fringe, which would just get in the way.”

“Maybe this, then?” Rose thumbed to another picture. “Pretty popular on Corellia. Could help you blend in on missions.”

“Not the biggest fan of the cropped sides.” Rey gave her an apologetic look. “Feels like it’d need a lot of upkeep, you know? And a topknot’s just gonna be a git to wear with my helmet.”

“Fair. I keep forgetting the helmet thing.” Rose thought some more. “Say, how about we pixie it?”

“Hmm?” Then Rose showed her the picture, and Rey started. “Oh! OK, that feels like it’s a little more at the drastic end than I’d pictured… but it’s got a certain appeal.”

“You mean the attitude factor?”

“Absolutely.” Finally, Rey was chuckling. “I guess I’ve got to own the whole ‘drastic’ thing, right?”

Rose grinned at her. “Exactly. Shall we do it?”

“Let’s.”

That just left them to find a stool and set it in front of the bathroom mirror, and for Rose to carefully work away on Rey’s new cut. It felt good to get back to something like her old routine with Paige – and indeed, to let Rey in on a routine she’d never been part of.

She felt a little pang at leaving more of her friend’s beautiful hair all over the tiles, but Rey had picked the cut and at least in Rose’s opinion, the new style looked pretty good.

Finally she stepped back and produced a second mirror. “Aaaand… I think that’s us done. How’s it look?”

Nervously, Rose watched Rey study her new look in the reflection. “As far as I’ve ever looked at the back of my own head, I approve.” She ran her fingers through her hair and nodded, a smile slowly dawning on her face. Then she stood up and embraced Rose, hard. “You’re a lifesaver, Rose. Thanks.”

Rose hugged her right back. “You’re welcome, Rey. Part of the ship, part of the crew. And really, I’ve missed having the chance to do this,” she smiled. “Now, just point me at your repulsorbroom before you jump in the shower – no Gial, you can’t have it for a nest.”

Gial, who had been starting to gather up the little heaps of hair, trilled in protest but seemed to get the message.

The two women laughed, before Rose turned back to Rey. “And I’ll dispose of the evidence. Then we can get to dinner and shock everyone.”


End file.
